Merbabu Mountain

Merbabu Mountain


Mount Merbabu is one of the most known volcano in Central Java, for its amazing and challenging hiking routes for both local and foreign hikers. Despite often used as a hiking site for many experienced hikers, Merbabu is still considered an active volcano. The term “Merbabu” is derivated from two words, “Meru” meaning “Mountain” and “Babu” meaning “female” or “lady”. The Great Volvano is located directly adjacent on the southeastern side of Mount Merapi. According to history, Merbabu’s last eruption was in 1968, and before that there was a moderate eruption in 1560 and again in 1797.

Although the mountain may seem to have many peaks, they are in fact not really the original peak (often known as shadow peak). There are only 2 original peaks of Mount Merbabu, they are named Syarif (3,120 meters high) and Kenteng Songo (3,142 meters high). These two high peaks offer a different panorama of their own. The two peaks can be reached through 2 different routes, one is through Selo/Boyolali on the northeast and the other is through Tekelan/Kopeng on the south.

The two routes offer a journey with different view of terrain. The Selo route is longer in distance but the scenary and landscape is much more beautiful than the Tekelan route. The pine trees on both sides of the road, in addition to the distinct view of Mount Merapi is a scenary one will find amusing. On the other hand, the Tekelan route is shorter in distance, but the road is a bit slopy due to a number of erosion and a high rain debit that occurred in the area. The scenary is also not as fascinating as that of the Selo route. A climb from the Tekelan route can take 8 to 10 hours.

The area on the slope of Mount Merbabu is considered a highly fertile farming land. Farmers from the nearest village plant different kinds of crops and agricultural products as their livelihood. The most famous crop in the area is tobacco. It has become the primary product where villagers earn their main income from.

Gunung Merbabu is a massive forested volcano that rises to the north above a broad 1500-m-high saddle from the renowned Merapi volcano in central Java. The volcano is elongated in a NNW-SSE direction, parallel to the trend of the long transverse volcanic chain extending from Merapi to Ungaran volcano. Three prominent U-shaped radial valleys extend from the 3145-m-high summit of Merbabu toward the NW, NE, and SE, dividing the volcano into three segments. The most recent magmatic eruptions originated from a NNW-SSE fissure system that cut across the summit and fed the large-volume Kopeng and Kajor lava flows on the northern and southern flanks, respectively. Moderate explosive eruptions have occurred from the summit crater of Merbabu in historical time.